The Icemat 2nd Edition mouse pad utilizes actual glass as surface. Making this material usable for optical and laser mice is certainly no small feat. We take a look at the black pad, but Icemat offers it in many other different colors as well.
Matrox made some waves with their GXM (Graphics eXpansion Modules) when they where first released, starting with the DualHead2Go. This module enabled dual monitor use with a single output. Their newest addition is the DualHead2Go Digital, which uses DVI as output method to allow higher resolutions. We try the device in Windows XP and Mac OS X using two 19 inch DVI based LCD montors.
The Antec MX-1 is part of the new Veris brand and features a very unique design. You get eSATA and USB 2.0 connectiviy inside a solid plastic & aluminum enclosure. It is a bit larger than most enclosures, but features a very effective cooling design to keep the temperature of the installed SATA drive down to a minimum.
Are you looking to get into water cooling, but are not quite sure where to start, or want something a little more than a pre-built cooler? Well we may have a solution for that - The GIGABYTE 3D Galaxy II Water Cooler. Today we will take a look at GIGABYTE's new water kit and put it to the test.
The Antec Sonata III is continuing the line-up with new looks, interior layout and a very solid and highly efficient EarthWatts 500W power supply. All this for a mere $149 USD, so we take a real close look and fill it with some high end hardware to let you know how it holds up.
Winchip is a well known brand in Asia and is now entering the European market with their memory products. The company has a long history in the OEM sector, while the heatspreader of their PC2-9600 memory looks quite unigue. The 2 GB memory kit, which costs $199, can manage an impressive 1240 MHz at CL5-5-5-15 on our testbed.
Super Talent has taken their classic enclosure for USB 2.0 flash memory and stuffed it with a 200x device. This means it should be one of the fastest memory sticks out there with more than 30 MB/s. These benchmark results together with the sturdy aluminum casing make this a rock solid choice.
The AllInOne control panel from Akasa offers, just as the name implies, connectivity of all kinds. You will also get a small LCD display to control two fans and two temperature diodes. The unit itself is of high quality and the clean design should look great inside a case - even the red one.
The absolutely tiny A-DATA PD17 is not only the company's smallest, but lightest offering as well. The modern shape, coupled with the choice of three colors and great construction make for a very unique device. Even though it is so small, performance is very good and the PD17 is ReadyBoost capable as well.
Looking for a tough durable quick transfering memory stick? PQI's new Traveling Disk series might be a good place to start looking. Today we have the pleasure of reviewing a sample of the Traveling Disk series, and we'll see how well it stacks up compared to other drives.
ATI's new Radeon HD 2400 XT comes with the RV610 GPU which is built in 65nm. This means the GPU is cheap to make and consumes very little power. AMD has also added several new power savings features which makes this card one of the least power hungry on the market. For a price of only $79 you will be able to play back HD videos on almost any CPU using an HDMI + HDCP + Audio link with the UVD HD video acceleration hardware.
Powercolor's Radeon HD 2400 Pro uses AMD's new RV610 GPU with 256 MB of DDR2 memory. With its special video acceleration features and low-profile PCB design the card seems to be a good choice for small form factor media PC systems.
The HD 2600 XT is AMD's new midrange flagship card which is based on the RV630 GPU. This is the first time that a midrange card comes equipped with GDDR4 memory - 256 MB in our case. AMD's new card comes with features such as DirectX 10 support and full HD video acceleration by dedicated hardware called UVD. But is this enough to beat NVIDIA's new products?
Trends in waterblock design don't change often. Until recently, it was thought that jet-impingement was the best way to go for achieving the lowest temperature when cooling a processor. Then came along quad-core CPUs, and it became evident that we must look at other ways of cooling these beasts – their core surface is very large, so waterblock designers were forced to return to old-school, large surface area waterblocks. The Apogee GT is one of the first blocks that attempts to offer jet-impingement performance from a block relying on a simple array of copper pins – can it succeed?
Today we take a look at the Ballistix Tracer PC2-6400 2GB kit from Crucial Technology. For those who haven't heard of the Tracer range, these modules feature eye catching blue backlighting and activity LEDs, making this RAM an excellent choice for making your PC really stand out! With most modern games using more and more memory and at the same time needing loads of bandwidth, this memory would be great for high-end gaming systems.
Flash drives are a huge thing these days, and more and more companies are producing them. Today we'll take a look at PQI's new Intelligent Drive, which is the smallest flash drive in the world. Available in 1 GB to 4 GB capacities, it's sure to be a hit in the consumer product sector.
The Spire Pininfarina is a very unique case, designed by the Italian design studio. The 6 mm thick aluminum and steel body make this case really heavy. It is a real back breaker if you plan to carry this one to a LAN party. The unique looks also continue with the butterfly doors, which make for some very simple installation.
The QNAP QBack-25 is an external HDD enclosure for 2.5" HDDs connected via USB. The use of 2.5" drives allows that it is powered by USB only. What makes the unit special is the included backup software which can easily compete with professional solutions. It is very easy to use and has a clean screen layout. Optional 256-bit AES encryption helps you protect your data from prying eyes. With a price of about $35 this unit is also very competitively priced.
The NZXT Hush is the newest case in their line-up. The name is also the main feature of this enclosure, as the interior is covered by noise reducing dampening foam. This includes the bottom, sides, front and top of the case. While the interior layout is not very unique, but the screwless design is a great addition and works well. As we are used to from NZXT the exterior design looks great, especially with the blue LED fan and lighting in the door.
I was extremely pleased with the Andy Samurai Master Cooler. The quality of the construction is excellent, the base is very smooth and flat, and the whole cooler is light in weight. The installation was so incredibly easy, it only required a few quick steps, and nothing had to be removed from the case to install it. On top of that, the performance was great. Although fan noise was not completely silent, it was rather low and, in fact, much lower than the three heatsinks tested against it.
The SteelSeries SX gaming mouse pad is made from highly polished aluminum which gives this pad a completely new type of surface grip. In our testing we come to the conclusion that the pad is extremely accurate and great for fast paced gaming. The only drawback is the high price of almost $60.
The Cyber Snipa Pro Gamer Mouse Matt is a perfectly sized cloth pad. It is surprisingly thin and comes packaged in a clear tube. The image on the pad gears this surface toward FPS gamers. The slighly rough surface may take a bit of getting used to, but actually works quite well. We take three different mice for a spin on the surface. The Cyber Snipa pad is sized perfectly for mid range gamers while still being small enough for high sensitity players and big enough if you use low sensitivity settings.
Zalman had new versions of the HD160 and HD160 XT cases that were using improved display technology. Also on display were new watercooling blocks and several new headphones.
One of the things I like about the Sunbeam 3D Storm case is the mesh front with washable open-cell foam to help keep dust from entering the system. The black mesh and the silver aluminum add a subtle touch of class to the case and give it a lot of style. The 3D Core Fan system adds greater flexibility to the positioning of the fans, as well as supporting up to four 120 mm fans. The Core Fan system works very well to help reduce component temperatures, especially with passively cooled components.
A-DATA is expanding their rugged flash memory line-up with the RB19. It features a thick rubber casing and is not just water resistant, but completely water proof. The green/gray USB stick looks quite nice and does have a very solid impression. We benchmark the flash drive and even drop it in a glass of water, to make sure it can deliver flawlessly after the dive.
